Your Money.

Fishing For Credit On The Internet

Web Sites Provide The Lure For Consumers Searching For Specific Features In Cards

July 31, 1997|By Tim Oliver, New York Times News Service.

Like the fisherman who drops several lines into the water to improve his chances of landing the prized catch, credit card companies have for years cast a wide net for new customers by cluttering mailboxes with offers of low-interest-rate, no-fee and specialty cards.

The card companies have the advantage of being able to throw back (read: reject) the undesirables (read: bad credit or no credit history), and they are now doing so more aggressively. And some card companies are raising interest rates and fees and cutting back on bonus programs.

As a result, consumers are running into trouble finding the type of credit card they want or even getting a card at all.

That is where the Internet can help. Several sites on the World Wide Web allow consumers to choose the specific features they deem important in credit cards.

While these sites do not charge a fee for this service, some require consumers to divulge personal information, especially when filling out on-line applications. And be warned, sending Social Security or bank account numbers through the Internet can be risky, since computer hackers might be able to break through the encryption and use that information.

- Get Smart (http://www.getsmart.com) offers the best of the free card-finder sites. Created by former executives of Wells Fargo Bank and McKinsey & Co., Get Smart has a frequently updated, searchable data base of more than 800 cards from 100 credit and charge card companies.

The Card Finder page asks you to choose and rank the top five features desired from a card. Want a low-interest rate? Make it top priority. Airline miles or rewards important? Rank it second. And so on. To start Card Finder, the user only has to supply his ZIP code. Wait a minute and the site punches up a list of cards matching the desired criteria. Consumers can telephone, fax or apply on-line for many of the cards.

The site also offers some valuable information on how to manage credit. An amusing feature is the Wild Cards page, where you can search for a specialty card. Type in "dog," for instance, and four cards pop up. The most interesting: MBNA Purina Gold Mastercard with a 17.4 percent annual interest rate after the first six months.

Get Smart says some of the cards offered at its site have annual interest rates as low as 4.9 percent, but the vast majority of them have rates starting at 11.4 percent (though many have low introductory rates).

- Ram Research Group (http://www.ramresearch.com) takes a different approach. Its site is filled with blinking billboard advertisements indicating that low interest rates and quick approvals are just a mouse click away. The site's cardfinder takes you to a map of the United States; click on a state and see the latest credit cards being offered to residents.

The site also includes surveys of the best credit card offers around the country. For credit card executives, Ram Research has a page called Card Flash, which posts news about the industry.

Card Game is an interestingly quirky page on the Ram Research site. The interactive game asks consumers to fill out a survey (i.e., provide personal information) and answer contest questions to win a prize, usually the reimbursement of a month's worth of interest-rate charges. The annual grand prizes are a credit card balance payoff and a trip to Paris.

- Credit Card Advisor (http://www.gromco.com/cca) lists 14 cards and seems aimed at the college and twentysomething crowd looking to get first or second cards. The puzzling home page portrays a young couple meeting and relaxing on a sunny beach.

Interest rates run 13.9 percent and up for the cards offered on Credit Card Advisor, and the questions are quite personal. Someone who wants to apply for a Visa Future card will be asked: "Have you had a bankruptcy in the past six months?" and "Who/where is your nearest relative?" The application also requires bank account numbers and employment information. All this for a 19.8 percent interest rate, $98 setup fee and $55 annual fee.

- Asque.com (http://www.asque.com) lists contact phone numbers for 150 cards, which are ranked by annual fee, interest rate, grace period and benefits. The site is not well designed or very much in depth, and only Visas and Mastercards are listed. The interest rates range from 9.94 percent to 21 percent.